Let’s make up for lost time by talking about Kabukibu! again~ The challenge of how to make kabuki accessible to a modern, young audience was an interesting one, and I have to admit I was siding with Ebihara and his ‘blasphemy’ comments during Act 1… while admittedly finding it a lot more entertaining than their slow, overly-dramatic attempts at genuine kabuki. Then, all was revealed in Act 2, when they did the same story in its traditional form. People could understand and appreciate it more having seen a modern and easily-worded take on it beforehand. Well-played, Kurogo! Glad to see that Shin did show up to play his role in the end, though given the similar way he joined their club to begin with, that didn’t come as too much of a surprise.

That’s more like it from Little Witch Academia~ While I’m still suffering from Sucy withdrawal, the last two episodes have shown a lot of character development for Akko’s rival (and now friend?) Diana. Akko’s multiple metamorphoses while she tried to rescue Diana from the snake showed how good she’s getting with magic too, even if it’s just a mastery of the one spell. 😛 After coming to appreciate the history of the Cavendish family (whose history and cause was a lot more noble than I was expecting), Akko gained another word, and Shiny Chariot’s broom the Shiny Volley along with it; Diana didn’t succeed as family head this time, but with her aunt’s plans now thwarted, that means she can return to Luna Nova, so all’s good!

Mouse-form Akko is still the best.

Moving down:

A surprise drop for Shingeki no Kyojin S2! 😮 There was nothing necessarily bad about this episode, but up until now this sequel has consistently delivered huge plot twists and decent action scenes. This week, it more or less ground to a halt after Reiner and Bertolt ran off with Eren and Ymir. Even the eyecatch mid-way through the episode had nothing more interesting to discuss than field rations. Given how badly their first fight against the two friends-turned-enemies went, this time spent recovering and working out a plan of attack makes plenty of sense. We did also get a cute flashback to Eren, Mikasa and Armin’s childhood, as Hannes tried to cheer the latter two up. Hopefully the next episode will be more eventful.

Danmachi Gaiden: Sword Oratoria continues to bounce up and down my list – there’s so much going on, so many characters being introduced all the time, and this week’s dialogue-heavy first half struggled to hold my interest as it darted from one group discussion to another. I do like Lefiya and Bete’s new party member Filvis, and look forward to finding out more about her tragic past. Lefiya herself though… quite an annoying main character, and I don’t seem to be the only person feeling that way. More interesting was the second half, where Ais’ party fought more of the weird monster plant things.

Widespread use of the ‘sansa’ would mean fewer cute sleeping scenes and faces, however…

General comments:

The anisotropic being keeps on giving in Seikaisuru Kado: this time, a device that allows you to stay awake forever, with no apparent side effects, and the option to sleep still there if you so choose. I want one. But I’m also trying to think how humans will corrupt this gift in the same way they did the wam. 100-hour work shifts aren’t something that appeals to me! Meanwhile, Yaha-kui zaShunina slowly becomes more human himself through interaction with people and with books… and I do wonder, even if we assume he previously had no concept of greed and selfishness, and was only sharing these powers for the good of humanity, will he develop ulterior motives later on? Meh, I’m probably thinking far too negatively of my own species here. 😛

With the other Shingeki having fallen to the middle of the rankings, Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul suddenly looks the more likely series to place 1st overall at the end of the season! There hasn’t been a remotely bad, slow or boring episode so far. The three-way battle between Azazel, Charioce and Kaisar, while short, was brilliant. So were Nina’s reactions during her ‘trial’ (“Couldn’t you make it more like three days?”)… isn’t she super strong though? I’m surprised they managed to restrain her, even without her being able to assume dragon form. And of course, the moment we’ve been waiting for finally came at the end of the episode: Favaro’s reappearance! 😀 Also Jeanne D’Arc, she’s cool too. I’m now anticipating an amazing jailbreak episode